US viewers can get Lost for free over the internet

ABC, the US television network, will offer some of its most popular shows, including Desperate Housewives and Lost, as free downloads over the internet, its parent group Walt Disney said last night. They will only be available to broadband users with a US internet address to protect foreign broadcasting rights. Viewers can download shows the day after they are broadcast and will be able to move between "chapters" in an episode, but not skip ads. A two-month trial starts in May. "Going direct over broadband is very smart business," said Rich Greenfield, analyst at Pali Research. Reuters